Snakes dumped in tax office

A pair of Indian farmers dumped a bag of snakes in their local tax office after becoming enraged by bribery demands.

Hukkul Khan and Ramkul Ram emptied around 40 of the slithery creatures on to the floor of the busy office in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India, after claiming officials had been deliberating withholding important files until the farmers met their bribery demands.

Hundreds of terrified villagers and clerks were sent running for cover when the potentially-deadly cobras were unleashed.

State official Ramsukh Sharma said: "Snakes started climbing up the tables and chairs. There was total chaos. Hundreds of people gathered outside the room, some of them with sticks in their hands, shouting that the snakes should be killed."

Local police captured the creatures and no-one was injured during the incident.